Microelectronic manufacturing techniques have led to the miniaturization of numerous devices. Mobile phones, personal digital assistant devices, and digital cameras are very common examples of the miniaturization trend.
One device that has not seen the advantage of microelectronic manufacturing techniques is the printer. Commercially available printers are large compared to many of the devices they could support. For instance, it is impractical to carry a color printer for the purpose of instantly printing photographs taken with known compact digital cameras.
A compact printhead has been described in co-pending United States Patent Applications filed simultaneously to the present application and hereby incorporated by cross reference: A compact printhead has been described in co-pending U.S. Patent/Applications filed simultaneously to the present application and hereby incorporated by cross reference:
USSNTitle7,018,016Fluidic seal for an ink jet nozzle assembly6,428,133Ink jet printhead having a moving nozzle with anexternally arranged actuator6,526,658Method of manufacture of an ink jet printhead havinga moving nozzle with an externally arranged actuator6,328,417Ink jet printhead nozzle array6,390,591Nozzle guard for an ink jet printhead
Having a number of physical slots and connectors on a device such as a digital camera has an effect on the size, the cost, and the functionality of the device. The more physical connectivity standards a camera has to support the more the physical number of connectors the camera must have. To be fully modular a compact printer system must have common connectivity between modules and a serial bus to support the connectivity.